Disney Social Media Moms Conference Day 1
For a week in February, we decided to leave all the snow behind and head for Sunny Florida. Over the next few days, I am going to do a daily recap of our time at the conference. Let me just say that Disney went way out of their way to make this such a grand time for everyone and including all our families in on the fun.
Day 1:
We checked into the super fabulous Polynesian Resort where we were greeted with such superb Customer Service. As soon as we dropped off all our luggage, we wasted no time in heading straight to the parks. I do have to say this was our first time staying on-site and it was nice to just park your car and take the Monorail or the Bus to all the parks.
Our first park we headed to was the Animal Kingdom. I will go ahead and tell you my youngest daughter L is not a fan of all the Disney characters. She is very afraid of people dressed up and wants no part in seeing them, so we made the decision to let her go see the Animals first!
As soon as we walked in, we were immediately greeted with the animals. L was loving this Disney park. She is a huge animal lover and we just had to stop and see all the animals.
Unfortunately, since we had never been to Animal Kingdom, we didn’t realize Safari was the place to see many more animals, so we made a trip back to Animal Kingdom on our last day. (More to come about the Safari on the last day recap)
As I was hanging out with L, hubby would make sure to make all the stops for the Greet and Meet Characters with M. Just a note of advice… Make sure to let your little one have an autograph book with them in the parks (you can even just purchase a small notebook for them) so they can have all the Characters autograph. M was loving all the autographs with each of the characters.
L was over the moon happy with just having her Lil Tinkerbell Baby to carry in her arms throughout the park.
After spending all day at Animal Kingdom, we headed back for a night of fun at ESPN Worldwide of Sports.
This venue was huge and so awesome to be able to take in the sights while no one was there 
.
As the moms were attending a Press Conference, all the families were out on the field having a great time partaking in all the sports events.
Back in the Press Conference, the Social Media Moms, were getting a look into all the awesome upcomings Disney is bringing forth for everyone. One of the new adventures is the Disney Dream Cruise that is coming in 2011. I knew I wanted to take a Disney Cruise before, but now I really WANT to make it happen for my family after seeing all they are going to offer for families.
Also, one of the key features of the Disney Cruise is the AquaDuck water coaster. Just watch and see how cool this new water coaster is:
And yet another great feature coming back is the Disney Electrical Parade in Magic Kingdom this Summer. We were able to experience the Electrical Parade when we were at Disney this past Christmas. It was so neat and the girls were just in awe during the whole parade seeing all the floats lit up and the people in the parade all lit up. Definitely a must see when you are at the parks. Here are some photos from our time at Christmas.
After the Press Conference, we all headed to another venue at the ESPN Worldwide of Sports to have dinner and let the kids enjoy a dance party with all the beloved Characters. L was just fine sitting with her mommy the whole time, but M really got up on stage and had the time of her life dancing her little heart out. They even were entertained by the High School Musical Cast.
It really was an awesome way to end the evening. Big KUDOS to ESPN Worldwide of Sports for hosting us and show what true family entertainment is all about!
PS: Keeping it real here at One Moms World. I was apart of the Disney Social Media Moms Conference in which we did get reduced hotel and was given tickets as well some dinners provided. They in no way had us post about our time during the Conference. I wanted to from my own mind and heart and will be expressing my opinions about Disney over the course of this week .
The Winter Is Sure Giving Us A Run
For our money that is…
Now you see, I do live in the mountains and yes we are use to the snow and cold BUT, there is usually a little bit of a break in between storms for us to re-cooperate. Since Dec. 17th,
- I have seen my grass for about a total of 4 days.
- The girls have maybe went a total of four FULL days of school (meaning no delays or snow cancellations).
- We lost power for 4 days.
- We have seen more ice that we ever care to!
- We have came up with so many creative ways to sled that you would be amazed
It is a winter for the history books for sure. I am itching for the sun so I can go out and run and get more fit. This winter has really done me in and I am so just wanting to get out and run, run and did I say run?
Anyways… I thought I would share some videos of our little sledding runs and some pictures to make you smile from our own little version of North Pole!
First Glance at North Pole, NC
The Girls Taking a Sled Run
M Having Fun with the Circular Sled
Mommy and L Taking a Sled Run
Snow Gals
The Girls SnowWoman
M Loves to Make Snow Angels
The Girls Love to Crash the Sled
The Girls LOVE to Sled
The Snow Is Here So We Should Enjoy It I Guess
Happy Winter Everyone!!
No tags for this post.The Story of the ZING ZANG ZOOM
The snow storm that took over NC this past weekend was determined to make us miss my girls first circus ever. Guess what? We were one up on the weather. We changed our tickets from the Saturday show to the Thursday show. I’m so glad we did because I heard that lots of people couldn’t make the weekend shows but luckily Ticketmaster was doing refunds due to the snow storm.
To see the girls faces during the show as just amazing! The show lasted a little over 2 hours, but the girls did not complain at all. They are at the ages of 5 and 7. Since due to the weather my step-daughter was not with us, we took my little cousins age 9 and 11 (boys). They were equally amazed as well.
They included the family in on lots of events during the show. Seeing the magic being performed and then watching the amazed looks on the children faces just couldn’t be beat.
I am always in awe of the acrobats and so I just knew my girls would be as well. Much to my surprise the boys couldn’t stop watching either. How they are so flexible and strong will always be a wonder of mine? They have so much faith on each other to which I’m sure they have a huge bond with one another. Just seeing them do the flips, balances, jumps and climbs was just awesome.
I will have to say, that I have never seen a real life cannon ball and guess what… I was finally able to see one!!! I think I was jumping up and down as much as my girls were. My youngest daughter just couldn’t quite figure out why the women were getting into these tubes and her mouth just dropped open when they shot across the stage. Amazing!
Oh the animals were a HUGE HIT! All the kids were on the edge of their seats during the whole animal scenes. I was so cracking up at the elephants… they can sit their big booty on these little stools and never miss a beat. Too cool! Also how they would all line up and swing each other’s tales to hold on to each other. So cool!
I was a little anxious for the tigers when it was time for their scene. They never skipped a beat with the trainer though and all did their tricks perfect. Amazing!
At the end was a huge parade and all the kids joined in and clapped their little hearts out!
It was such a great experience for the whole family. My hubby and I were just into the show as much as the kids were. We definitely recommend this for a family outing
Check to see when the ZING ZANG ZOOM is coming to your area and use this special offer to get your tickets really cheap .
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Also, be sure to get to the arena early to check out the All Access Preshow.
Step onto the arena floor and into The Greatest Show On Earth® at the All Access Pre-show! Come an hour before show time to join Clown College® and learn how to be a circus clown.
10 Reasons You Can’t Miss the All Access Pre-show!
1) An amazing elephant paints right before your eyes.
2) Learn juggling, makeup and fun with the world famous Clown Alley.
3) See a one-of-a-kind special Ringling Bros®motorcycle as built by Orange County Choppers.
4) Meet the performers up close and get autographs.
5) Witness Klose’s Performing Canines jump through obstacles and hoops.
6) Be amazed as Zingmaster Alex teaches magic to audience members.
7) See performers jump rope and do tricks on the low wire.
Watch the contortions and table juggling of the Chinese Qi Qi Har Troupe.
9) Try on actual clothes used in The Greatest Show On Earth.
10) It’s FREE with your ticket, so get in on the fun!
What age was your children when they first went to the circus?
Full Disclosure: Our family was provided these tickets in exchange for this complete review. This review comes from my heart and the complimentary tickets did not persuade my views at all!
No tags for this post.What Is In a Grandparent Name
My beautiful girls call my mom an unique name. I’m not so sure if she ever thought she would be called this when she was a grandparent, but it warms my heart that my girls came up with this ever so cute name on their own. My girls call my mom Yay-Yay! Yes… you heard me right . Now, you see how this name came about is very interesting. When M was about 6 months old, my mom would call M on the phone and go yayayayayayayayay over and over to her on the phone. She did this until M was well over a year old because M would just crack up and do the cutest little baby laugh. Mom was over at our house one day and M out of the blue looked at my mom and said plain as day Yay-Yay. Her little mind put two and two together that she was the woman that always did Yay-Yay to her so that must be her name right? Ever since that day, my mom has been known as Yay-Yay to the girls. When L was born and old enough to talk, she naturally just started calling mom Yay-Yay as well. Is that not just the cutest story?
Now let’s just say if you gather a group of young kids today and ask them what they call their grandparents…. you are going to get a different answer from each one. You’re bound to encounter the run-of-the-mill Grandmas and Grandpas, but things really start getting interesting once the Gramies, Lulus, Gagas and Boo-boos start popping up. Where did all these names come from? Are the grandparents planting them? Is it just a matter of young kids butchering the annunciations? Regardless of origin, the nicknaming of grandparents has taken on a life of its own, and as a result BabyCenter has published the top 10 most popular names from grandparents:
Popular Grandmother Names:
Grandma
Nana
Grammy
Granny
Mimi
Gram
Nanny
Oma
Mamaw
Gran
Popular Grandfather Names:
Grandpa
Papa
Granddad
Gramps
Pop-Pop
Poppy
Papaw
Pop
Opa
Pappy
In addition to the top ten, BabyCenter also collected dozens of other sweet, fun and downright odd names while compiling the list that can be found here.
What does your kids call their grandparents? I would love to see if it falls into the top ten from above or is unique to your family .
Oh No Another Snow Day What To Do
Snow Day, Snow Day, Snow Day and yet another Snow Day! Some parents may cringe at the thought of a snow day, but I actually look forward to snow days. Yes, snow days can involve getting out and throwing snow balls at each other’s head or finding the biggest hill to sled down or if the wind chills are sub below zero, they can involve creative ideas inside.
Make sure to shop seasonal sales at your local stores such as Wal-Mart or Target. I found gingerbread man kits 75% off and it is never a wrong time to make Gingerbread Men .
Also, Valentine’s Day is coming up so a perfect time to get out the art supplies kit and make homemade Valentine’s Day cards that will mean so much more to your kid’s friends!
Let the kids be creative and have indoor parties. My girls brought out the strobe light AKA flash light, turned out all the lights in the hall and we had a dance party. Each girl got a parent and we danced our little hearts out to Party in the USA! We acted goofy, we laughed hard, and we danced to our heart’s content. The girls were enjoying it so much.
A couple hours later, we got an invite to a Halloween Party. Please check yes or no. Of course, we checked yes and showed up with our best costume on.
Decorations filled the halls and scary oops I mean silly ghost stories were told by the girls. Can you believe that the pickle ran across the road? WOOOO… I know I was scared too .
Take time out of the day and have chill time. My girls love to read books so take a time-out session on the couch and cuddle up to a good book. If your child is too young, they can draw during this time and make their own picture book.
Chore time. Make it a game. Who can get their chores done the fastest? Who can sing the loudest while doing their chores? Who can make the bed up the neatest? Who can fold the most wash clothes? Girls love it!
Have an indoor picnic in your living room complete with a homemade tent that involves draping blankets from couch to couch. Bring out the peanut butter and jelly to see who can make the sloppiest sandwich or who can make the neatest sandwich.
ABC and 123 time. Create activities throughout the house such as count the door knobs, windows, or closests. Find letters in a magazine that spells each family members name and create a collage on construction paper.
These are just some of the few activities we had fun with over the last couple of weeks of snow days. It really can be fun and not stressful. Keep it changing and entertaining and don’t forget to give the kids some downtime to recoup from each activity so they will not have melt downs.
Happy Snow Day!
No tags for this post.Mommy Jesus Brought Him Back
Last night in the super cold weather, our little Kingston decided to dart out the door when I was bringing in groceries. My girls immediately started crying. L said, mom we have to think about this. She went and got me the flash light since it was pitch dark outside.
So we go trekking through the snow and ice down our road to see if we can grab him. He is super fast but
1) It was too cold for him to stay outside (below zero wind chills)
2) I was afraid he would get hit by a car
We all three are walking up and down the road calling his name. I hear M behind me whispering something but couldn’t make out what she was saying. All of a sudden we see car lights… thank you Lord. Those car lights were shining into a yard and there was our precious Kingston. He came running straight to us.
We hurried and got inside and M said “Mommy, do you know who brought Kingston back to us? It was Jesus. I was saying a prayer while we were walking.” Melt my heart. That was the whispering that I was hearing behind us. She said see mommy prayers really do work. Yes, they do indeed my beautiful girl!
No tags for this post.Happy New Year
We brought in the New Year at the ski slopes. The girls had a blast and M surprised me soooo much on how well she did. More to come.
Here’s to a wonderful 2010 to everyone. It is so going to be a good Year . Remember you can do all things when God is on your side. Much love to all!
Happy Birthday to the Best 7 Year Old
It all started here baby girl 7 years ago:
and how did we end up here this quickly?
M, it was this day 7 years ago you made me a mom. This is my Mom Anniversary just as it is your Birthday. Isn’t it neat we get to share such two great events on December 19th every year? M, you continue to amaze me each and everyday.
This year you have participated in Clogging, T-Ball, Community Theater, Swimming, Soccer, GA’s and Children’s Choir. You absolutely love staying busy and you handle it so well too. I follow your lead and let you decide what all you want to be involved in.
M you love to make everyone happy. You get your feelings hurt if you realize that you may have hurt someone or did not do the right thing. You are very apologetic and just want to help out in any way you can.
You are the best big sister. It’s not always easy being the big sister, but you take it and run with it. You help guide Lyndsee and I hear you both when you are playing, hugging each other and saying “I Love You”. Your teachers at school tell me all the time how you both make sure to find each other during the day so you can give each other the “I LOVE YOU” sign. That just melts my heart. Yes, you both have your fights but you two are definitely best of friends.
M, you are doing so great at school. You are reading 3rd grade level books and just love to read your chapter books. Everywhere we go, you ask to take a chapter book with you so you can read. There are still times at night though you enjoy mommy still reading to you.
M, you still love to cuddle with mommy which just makes my heart so warm with love. I love you so much and when you want me to pick you up out of bed to carry you into living room… of course I still do it. I want to keep you little as much as I can… even though you are inching up height wise up on mommy .
M, you love mommy cooking you waffles each and every morning. Some mornings when I am running and late and fix you cereal… you make sure to show me that face that you are not too happy with mommy. So, yes mommy sets the alarm clock 15 minutes earlier every morning now so I can make sure your waffles and warm and ready when you wake up.
M, you so enjoy helping me cook in the kitchen. You want to be right there to pour the ingredients or stir. I love this time M. You little suzy homemaker
M, you are such a great all around daughter. God blessed me with a wonderful soul. I’m so happy you love him as much as I do. He has a plan for you and I cannot wait to see it.
M…. HAPPY 7th Birthday my dear. Mommy loves you sooooo much. You will just never know. Let’s go have a super fun day at Magic Kingdom. Just what you have requested. Here’s to many many many more birthdays and mom anniversary celebrations together.
Much love,
Your Mom
Its Not Always About The Material Things
During this holiday season, I want to make sure we are all remembering the reason for the season… Jesus . I try to instill this in my girls and two separate events in the past week has assured me… I must be doing something right!
M came home last week with all her Thanksgiving projects she had done at school. One of the projects brought tears to my eyes. I’ll post a picture here:
Look at all she is thankful for! I had to show this off to everyone in our family. I have always said she is such an old soul and really cares so much for others. She is thankful for Family, Dad, Mom, God, Jesus, Freedom, Home and Food. Is that not awesome? There are no material things listed and that just warms my heart so much.
Then, this leads me to this past weekend. I was creating all my lists for my family this year for Christmas. I asked L what she would like for Christmas this year. She sat there for a minute and put her little fingers on her chin, like she was thinking. She said ummm… then said I know Mommy. All I want for Christmas this year is for daddy to love me, mommy to love me, my sister to love me and my doggy to love me. Oh I just swooped her right up and hugged her so tight. There was not one item she could tell me she wanted… all she wants is love. Is that now just the coolest thing?
I love my girls so much and often wonder if I am doing a good job at this mommy gig… but I think I couldn’t receive a more better answer than this do you?
So remember as we go into this wonderful Holiday Season, its not all about the money. It’s all about the thought and love!
Day 12 Thankful for Time in NYC
Today I am thankful for getting one on one time with my two daughters M and L in NYC. I was nervous about taking them, but the nervousness totally went away once we got into the city.
The first task to cover was getting L on the plane. She did NOT want to fly at all. I stayed really positive and upbeat with her and the plane ride went so smoothly. Both girls were just amazed and kept looking out the windows. L was teary eyed when we first got on, but after she realized how cool it was, she had everyone laughing on the plane.
L would say, mommy look there is water, we get to land in the water! Ummm no sweetie we will land on the pavement . Then she said mommy, will we get to jump out of the plane? WHAT!! She would say, oh I have a headache, I need to close the window. Then 2 minutes later, oh I need to see the sun let me open the window. She had us all cracking up and she was so enjoying every minute of not having to be in a carseat .
M was so laid back, taking in all the sights and asking some really good questions about the landing and just the airplane in general. She has wanted to ride on an airplane for so long and it made me so happy that she got the chance.
Once, we arrived in the city. The girls were so excited and ready to take the city head on. We first were took by taxi cab to Dylan’s candy store.
Oh my the taxis. Needless to say, we only rode in two taxis the whole time we were there because they scared me so bad with their driving. They could care less who they cut off or cut in front of and how close they get to someone! EEEEK….
Once we arrived at the candy store, the girls did a short video shoot for the Show. Each child ages 5 to 8 was interviewed individually some questions. I heard the producers cracking up laughing, so I knew it was going to be pretty funny. I made sure I seen the questions first before I agreed for my girls to be asked. The producers came out and said the girls did so good and I would get to see the video the next day.
So we headed onto the city.. just the girls and I. I loved having this mother/daughter time with them. We took the subway. The first couple of times, I kept getting on the wrong subway and the attendants were so nice to let us get on the correct ones without charging us haha. After a while, M said mom you are really getting the hang of these subways . The girls just loved taking the subways to get to everything.
Our first stop was Central Park. It was so beautiful. We didn’t do the whole five mile walk of the park, because I knew the girls would get really tired so we just did the outskirts of Central park.
I wanted to do the horse and carriage rides around Central Park, but wanted to save that for when hubby is with us so we can do it as a whole family.
Next stop was FAO Schwartz Toy Store. It is a really HUGE toy store and the girls just went wild. They loved it.
Even the employees get right in there with the kids and begin playing with the toys.
We then walked by Rockefeller Center, but my wonderful batteries decided to die in my camera so I don’t have pictures. By this time it was starting to get dark in the city, so we headed back to get something to eat and get in for the evening. I didn’t want to be out much past dark with myself and the girls.
The next morning, we were up very early and out of the hotel room by 8am to go to Times Square.
The girls just loved all the lights and billboards. We also went to see where the different News people were. We happened to catch Kris Allen on Good Morning America.
We just had so much fun going in and out of stores and just taking in all the sights and sounds of Times Square. We then headed over to Bryant Park and let the girls enjoy their donuts.
We also got to meet up here at Bryant Park with my wonderful co-worker who works in NYC. I just adore her and was so happy we got to meet up. It also warmed my heart that this meet-up with Dina was one of M’s top 3 things that she loved about NYC!
My girls really showed off for Dina . The girls got to see the people ice skating there in Bryant Park as well. That was very cool!
We then headed back to the subway, and as you can see on the girl’s shirts. They LOVE NYC!
It was time to get ready for the show. We were not allowed to take any cameras or cell phones to the show, so I don’t have any pictures of this part of our trip. This was one part of the trip, I was nervous about. I didn’t know how everything was going down, but one thing I knew is that I would control what my girls heard at the show. Once we were taken back to the green room with all the other ages 5 to 8 children and their moms, we realized we were the last show to tape that day. She tapes 3 shows a day, I believe 2 times a week. Going in, I knew this show was about Do you talk to your kids about sex and what do children face in today’s world? I know my morals and values of how I want to bring my girls up. I am very protective over them, so I wanted to give my opinion and see how other mom’s were approaching this same topic.
So all the mom’s got their hair and make-up done… didn’t I look fabulous? hehe!
Then it was almost show time for us to go on stage. I know there were teenagers and moms on before us, but I have no idea what they talked about as we were kept in the back. So I’m not sure how that went down. It was our turn so they led the moms onto stage of the 5 to 8 age group. Each mom was asked a couple of questions. I was asked about an incident of a little boy that kept kissing M last year in Kindy and then the second question I was asked if I had ever talked to my girls about sex. My response was, Absolutely not. I think they are too young and yes I want to be the one to talk to them, we are a very conservative family, that loves God and is guided by God, we have several morals and values in our family and I want to make sure I do it the right way. They then showed us the video they had taped of the girls from the day before. OMG… this will by far be the best part of the show. It is sooooo funny. Oh I loved it. L cracked up everyone and the whole audience was laughing. The video is like a Kids say the darndest things and oh did they LOL. It went very well, I was really pleased. They then said ok let’s bring out the little girls. Once they brought out the girls, they went into asking them more about their answers. So since L’s answers were so darn cute… once question was Where do babies come from? L said from a Doctor. They asked L on stage where the Doctor gets the baby from and she said from the babysitter. Then they said where does the babysitter get the baby, L said from the doctor. OMG it was so funny and cute. LOVED IT. M said that the baby comes from God . God picks out a special baby to place in mommy’s belly. It melted my heart. They didn’t talk to M on stage and she wanted to speak so she was sad they only spoke to L, but I assured her that she was on the taped video from the day before.
Overall, I was really pleased. Again, I don’t know how the first few segments went, but I was really pleased how my girls and I presented ourselves and glad that they could provide some clean fun laughter .
It took a very long time to tape so by the time we were done, it was time to head to the airport to fly back home.
We were in the car headed to the airport and I heard L sound like she was crying. I said what is wrong… she said mommy I am going to miss NYC. Oh it broke my heart, it was then I was soooo happy we did this and I had the chance to let the girls experience NYC. It was such a fun time and we all can’t wait to go back .
M was so excited about flying at night on the plane and L as you can see slept the whole time back home on the plane .
Fun times and I love the memories that we created!
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